The telecom regulator plans to auction the 1800 and 850-megahertz spectrum licences, which are being operated by Total Access Communication (DTAC), in January next year.
That auction date is three months ahead of its original plan to ensure no service disruption after DTAC's concession ends in September 2018.
The process to draft the 1800 and 850MHz spectrum allocation is slated to start next month, followed by a public consultation. The process is expected to be completed by the end of December.
Takorn Tantasith, National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) secretary-general, said it expects the auctions for the two spectrum ranges to generate at least 150 billion baht for the state if it can auction all of the spectrum. The valuation is based on the previous auctions of the 1800 and 900MHz licences in late 2015.
DTAC operates 45MHz on the 1800MHz band and 10MHz on the 850MHz band under a concession with CAT Telecom, which is due to expire in September 2018.
In November 2015, the NBTC auctioned two licences on the 1800MHz spectrum, each containing 15MHz of bandwidth. True Move H Universal Communication, a subsidiary of True Corporation, won the first licence with 39.79 billion baht, while Advanced Wireless Network Co Ltd, a unit of Advanced Info Service (AIS), won the second licence with 40.99 billion baht.
Later, in December 2015, another two 900MHz spectrum licences were auctioned, each for 10MHz of bandwidth. JAS Mobile Broadband (JASMBB) won the first licence at 75.65 billion baht while TUC won the second licence at 76.29 billion baht.
But JASMBB defaulted on the first payment of the licence. NBTC held a re-auction and AWN took over JASMBB's licence at the winning price.
DTAC was the only major mobile operator in country who failed to grab any licences from the previous auction of 4G licences in 2015.
DTAC executives earlier urged the government and the telecom regulator to quickly set a clear spectrum allocation roadmap as well as auction the 1800 and 850MHz several months ahead of September 2018.
Mr Takorn said NBTC expects to allocate four licences, three of the 1800MHz spectrum and one of 850MHz.
"We understand that the auction of the 1800MHz and 850MHz spectra in January 2018 may draw less interest from AWN and TUC, who already won the 4G auction licences in 2015," he said.
DTAC is most certainly a prospective bidder as the company needs to hold more spectra to ensure the quality of mobile service, Mr Takorn said.
